The Ties That Bind A Rose
by Minja
Summary: Arwen's love for Aragorn may sustain her for now..but how much longer will the mere memory of love be able to save her? And beyond her...can it save Rivendell's pain?


Title: The Ties that Bind a Rose  
  
Author: Minja (aka Carnimarie)  
  
Rating: G  
  
Pairings: Aragorn/Arwen  
  
Warnings: None. I can't think of any that you'll need. Kinda angsty.  
  
Notes: Just incase anyone wonders about the title.okay, while this actually has little to do with the songs themselves, when I wrote this I had "The Ties that Bind" and "A Kiss from a Rose" stuck in my head. They make an odd melody, but it inspired me, somehow.  
  
*Set shortly after Arwen commits herself to Aragorn in Lothlorien, I'm claiming that she went back to Rivendell, and that was when everyone first knew. This is Book-based. Hopefully not too out of Tolkein's reality.*  
  
Disclaimer: *sings* Oh, I don't own the characters, or even the plot, this just popped into my head, and New Line I am not! *bows* Thank you. ****  
  
Things were different in the elven-land known by all as Rivendell. The sadness that permeated a father's fading eyes dwelt everywhere, and the heavy hearts of all elven-men seemed to hold sway the mood. Brothers mourned alongside friends, for in that land dwelt the unhappy heart of one elven youth, one youth encompassing the hope and light of the future. Yet in their grief the elves around her could not see this ray of hope underneath a grim and uncertain future, and so, all life floundered between loss and grief, hope and sustenance. This one youth, however, held aloof her head despite the protests of her kin, as she sought that which made her days worth living and that which made the sun shine upon her. And thus, despite the warnings given to her from all, she remained happy...at least, for a while.  
  
*`*`*  
  
"Arwen?" Annunkua asked softly. The dark haired elf maiden had been reading the same page in her book for the past hour. When Arwen gave no indication of having heard her friend, Annunkua looked worriedly at Kuundil, the third member of their party. Kuundil just smiled and shrugged softly. She leaned over towards the daughter of Elrond.  
"Arwen, turn the page." She muttered just as softly. Arwen made no sound but turned the page. Startled slightly, yet nevertheless amused, Kuundil leaned forward to once again mutter to her unfocused friend. She found, however, her efforts blocked by the willowy arm of Annunkua.  
"Hush, you trickster." Annunkua muttered fondly and gazed at her friend with a vague sadness. "She's fallen asleep again." Kuundil sighed. She leaned back against the tree behind her and ran her fingers over the dying leaves that signified the return of fall to Imladris.  
The three elven maidens had walked out into the shallow edge of the Rivendell forest, when Arwen had pulled forth a book from the folds of her cloak and began to read. In the past few months, the vivacious elven girl that Annunkua and Kuundil knew to be their friend had slowly resorted to a quiet shell of her former image. More content with her head in a leaf of dying bark than amongst the living trees overhead, Arwen was beginning to worry her friends. It was one thing for an elf to distance their self from their companions, but quite another thing for an elf to distance themselves from nature, and Arwen had scarce left her home, and moreover, her room since.he had left. Kuundil pursed her lips.  
"Perhaps it is better if we wake her this time." She gazed carefully at Annunkua, all previous levity gone from her face. "If we leave her to dream, she will merely wake in a few hours, return to her room alone, and sleep once more." Kuundil ran a light hand over the leaves crumbling beneath her weight. "She is turning into a hibernating flower-"  
"And she is dying without the sunlight." Annunkua assessed firmly and frowned deeply at Arwen's still form. She wafted a pale hand in front of the daughter of Elrond's face. Arwen gave no response and Annunkua gave a light sigh into the wind. Arwen was fading quickly.  
"It is all because of him, you understand that." Kuundil began angrily. Annunkua gave her a warning look and pressed a finger to her lips to hush the other girl. Kuundil quieted and gave Annunkua a biting look. "I do not see why it is so necessary to speak softly around her. She holds us not in her mind at the moment, and our words do not pain her."  
"Yet they would." Annunkua gazed lovingly at Arwen. Her gaze also held tremendous sadness. "She cannot bear for anyone to speak ill of him." She lifted her head and her brown eyes met Kuundil's blue ones. "Your words would pain her."  
"And it matters while she already lives in pain?!" Kuundil questioned in an angry whisper. She pushed herself up from the ground with her hands and began to slowly pace the clearing in which they sat. "Annunkua," She began, staring straight into her companion's eyes, "He is killing her. He is killing her now, and if he does return, he will kill her in the days to come." Kuundil seemed torn between rage and anger for a few moments and struggled to speak as her voice clenched off tightly in her throat. Annunkua swiftly rose and moved to her friend's side.  
Annunkua placed a hand on Kuundil's shoulder. "Then it is her choice." She murmured gravely, still reverent of her friend's sleeping form. Her gaze moved from the tears in Kuundil's eyes to the pale sadness in Arwen's sleeping face. She tightened her grip on Kuundil's arm and turned her friend away from Arwen's napping form. "Come," she spoke soothingly to the shaken elf girl at her side and slowly began to lead her from the clearing which had swallowed up one more day of misery for Rivendell. "Come, we shall return home. Arwen shall find her way." Kuundil nodded solemnly, wiping the tears from her eyes as they walked away.  
"She shall." Both walked off towards the more open, friendly atmosphere of Rivendell, and Annunkua hoped that the great healer Elrond could give something to calm Kuundil's nerves. Kuundil herself hoped not to see the great healer, for fear what she might say to him about his daughter. Both moved further and further away, never looking back, only into the bleakness ahead.  
And they did not see, when from behind them, a solitary elf's eyes flickered wider open, as they always did when she stopped the illusion of her sleep and when she once again took the mask of one alive, though inside her heart felt dead. Neither Kuundil nor Annunkua saw the elf wipe her own tears away with a long velvet sleeve, before tucking her book back into a fold of her cloak and wandering off into the forest. She was, as always, alone.  
  
*`*`*`  
  
Yet her happiness was fading fast, and even the hope within her heart had begun to die, a danger for her kind: the full of heart. As hope and faith from friends and family began to diminish, the youth could almost no longer bear in silence. Yet as she learned to bear her life in voice, she learned to bear her startlingly realities in anger and in turmoil. And thus the refuge of elven light and love fell deeper into darkness.  
  
*`*`*  
  
"Why won't you listen to me?" Elrohir began angrily, staring at his sister with pitiless eyes. In truth, he felt terribly pained as a result of her anguish, yet soft words had offered no condolence to her heart as of the present day. Arwen gazed furiously back.  
"Because you cannot say what I long to hear, Elladan!" She yelled irately. She turned her back on him angrily and faced the opposite wall.  
The siblings had been arguing in Arwen's chambers since daybreak and it was nearing noontime. Elrohir had confronted his sister about her saddened habits as of late and she had been taking his advice in the slow spurts in which it had come, up until this morning. Having been met with an unwieldy sister, Elrohir had taken the initiative to let his own self be much more unpleasant than usual in hopes of reaching her. If she was too far gone for kindness, he had reasoned, she could never be too far gone for anger.  
"Elladan?" He questioned in a mild shock. Arwen stiffened as she realized her mistake and she turned around slowly. Her face held little emotion, yet Elrohir saw an almost saddened comedy reflecting in her eyes.  
"Yes." There had been nothing else to say, she had reasoned. She had not meant to utter the wrong brother's name; this was for certain, yet admitting a mistake that had already been recognized was rather pointless.  
Elrohir stood frozen for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Arwen's face grew cross. Times were serious, the days only grew bleaker...and he was laughing. Elrohir chuckled merrily and slowly placed a comforting arm around his little sister. Pushing her down, he sat beside her to finish his words.  
"I have now become a face without a name, then?" Elrohir noticed that all the anger seemed to flee Arwen within seconds. His voice grew more somber, although his face remained merry. "Because I am not him, is it? For only he has your thoughts.and so deeply, I might add, that you forget the difference in your kin." Arwen hung her head miserably. Yet some trace of hope lingered in her voice when she next spoke.  
"You at least try to understand." Her voice trailed off.  
"I try. But I still cannot fathom your reasons. You have to understand that they are hard to accept." Arwen lifted her head and gazed at her brother through her tears.  
"But not for me." She gingerly reached out a hand and pressed it against his chest, "Because I feel it with my heart." Elrohir's smile faded into a gaze of solemn pity and grief.  
"You are willing to die, then?"  
Arwen shook her head. She grabbed her brother's hand and squeezed it tightly. "No."  
"No?" Elrohir asked incredulously. How could she change her mind so fast? Yet he saw that she was beginning to speak again. Her eyes were red with tears and her face was pale and drawn with the strife she was going through. Yet her chin was determined. As was her voice.  
"No." Kissing his hand, Arwen rose from her brother's side and gazed out the window in front of her, her back to Elrohir. "I love him for I am afraid to die. For if I stop loving him.I cannot go on."  
Elrohir hung his head.  
  
*'*'*  
  
And as the ties of a family slowly crumbled and the love between two being grew stronger, all could see, with the sudden clarity, the painful reality. For if they were not allowed to live in their love, both would die. Yet the family of Elrond Peredhil already could see this. Arwen was fading fast. And there was not much time.  
  
*'*'*  
  
TBC! I'll take any and all reviews and give them a loving, caring home! 


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